Loose leaf binding device



Nov.. 24, 1936. F. s. SCHADE LOOSE LEAF BINDING DEVICE Filed March 21,1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR /m BY ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 24, 1936PATENT OFFICE v,li'rank lStanley Schade,'Holyoke, Mass.,assignor 4toNational Blank Book Company, Holyoke, ylMass., a corporationofyMassachusetts `v 'l Q"lippliatfumy March 21, 1935, seriarNo. 12,184

4 Claims. '-'lhisinvention relates to improvements in loose leaf sheetsand sheet binding mechanism. It

is intended for use with that type of sheet bindi ing mechanism whichconsists in a single helical- 5 ly coiled lwire. successive vturns ofAwhich pass through smallfholes arranged in a row along the bindingmargins of the sheets. These suc-v cessive `holes inthe row areordinarily spaced by the pitch distance of the coiled wire. 10 In theprior. artbinders of this coiled wire type. it is customary to threadthe wire along the vholeszin the ller'fsheets and then provide a stopatthe ends ofrthewires. The prior art book thusmade is in effect. a`permanently bound L book` in `thelsenselthat the user does notordinarily-remove, replace. Aor insert sheets asv-in a 'loose' leafbook.While itfispossible tof'remove the vstopsatthe` end` ofgthe binding wireand unscrewthe coiled wire from'binding relation 2i) tdthe sheets,'arrange thejsheets andagan 'screw in the binder,ittakesfaltogether'too'much timefworkand'care toifdothis.` Sothe customisft'o bind the sheets -at` the factory and the v user' handles thebookas he lwould apermanen'tlylbound one.i'

I"According to `"onef feature o'i' my invention I makemy sheets forafbin'der of Athe type mentionedybut with' novelstructure soarrangedthat theuser may hav'e'aloose leaf book inl which individual sheetscan'bej very conveniently rerovedfput in, or interchan'ged "in thefiller pack "as" inlooseleaf books. Mymeans for this purptsehasy'a/tlifferents'tructureand mode of opeifation" from'prior. -artflose'leaf books. so far 'as k'nw.-

. z A ""Aco'ordingto an ther feature of my invention e the '*coile'dwire :binding 1 means with 'rowibindingi strips instead 'of iiller'fi'iifbutflwithout 51ans. sheetsy or; leaye (el. 12s- 1) on. thelbinding margin for removably fastening it to the coiled wire; l y

Fig. 3 is an enlarged scale end view of the sheet with a part beyond thebinding margin cut` away; l t e Fig. 4 is a plan view of one bindingstrip made for attachment of a ller sheet;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view ,of a book with a pack of binding stripsmounted therein, a part of the book being cut away to save space; and 10Fig. 6 vis a view to indicate the progress of a. sheet as it is -beingput in or taken out of the book. l

Fig. 1 shows one customary type of coiled wire binder with the wire land covers 2 and 15x Sehung thereonj but with no filler sheets. Fig. 2shows an` example of one of the iiller sheets 4 made according to myinvention., It consists o f any `type of paper portion 5, v ancithattype may be thin book; papersuch asfusedzfor writing 20 in looseileafbooks. To make the f lller sheetin =a preferred way, ll meisten thebinding margin of paper `5 with a -solvent for celluloid, lay :a

strip of celluloid '6 along the moistened margin and. press the twotogether with a heated roll 25 `or presserbar.'l The solvent. and heatcause tact made with the paper in other4 ways. The

robjectjis to get `arelatively strong springy binding r'eenforcement.on'the paper' sheet.- 'And `this can be done in various `other ways,for 'example. by va strip of vmetal foily applied with "3'5thermo-plastic cement. I prefer tol have the reenforcing strip ofas-thin, material aspraoensheet. But the flaps may be deliberately andindividually bent out of that plane, when desired. I prefer to make thecuts 8 and 9 without substantial width rather than as slots, althoughthe latter may be used in the broader aspects oi my plan.

To fasten the sheet 4 on the coiled binding wire I, the sheet margin isstarted by pushing the end convolution sidewise through the end cut 8.Then the margin is bent into place so that each successive cut B admitseach wire convolution as the sheet is laid against the coiled wire. Thisoperation is indicated in progress from bottom to top of Fig. 6. Theparts can be assembled with convenience by overlaying the wire coil atthe side with the binding margin of the sheet and by pressing the sheetdown against the wire as by running the finger against the sheet along aline Just back of the row of holes. The pressure causes the aps to bendand tip enough for the end of the cuts 8 to find the sides of the wireconvolutions and admit them through the cuts to holes 'l one after theother. As soon as the wire turns are located in holes' theiiaps willreturn to their normal ilat position by the strong flattening tendencyof the celluloid iiap.

To unfastenthe filler sheet from the binder it is only necessary to pullthe sheet from the upper right-hand corner just as if one were tearingthe sheet out of the book. In the action each flap half is bent to snapover its wire so as to free the latter from the retaining hole. Thewire. rides out through the cut 8 and continued tearing pull on thesheet unfastens one convolution after another. The action is about asfast as if one were tearing out a sheet oi an integral stub along a lineof perforations. But in this case the wire I, instead oi' a stub,separates through cuts B exactly located for the purpose and there is notearing The fastening of the sheet 4 on the wire I is simply the reversebending movement from that of pulling it of! and the operator's nger can.be slid along back of the line of holes with a pressure action which isthe reverse along that line of the pulling action as in the tear.

One important function of the cuts 9 is to conilne the pulling andpushing action adjacent each hole to the ilap of that hole. Thissubstantially avoids the transmission of the pulling or pushing forcesin the operations from one iiap to the adjacent ap. The consequence isthat each nap action is independent with respect to they bendingnecessary for the wire binder convolution to snapinto-or out of the onehole of its adjacent flap. In the absence of cuts 9 the flap bendingline would be the line/connecting two adjacent holes. The flap could notbe bent without affecting the conditions at both holes. I prefer notonly to use the cuts 9 to avoid'the bending action on the line betweentwo holes but also to have cuts 9 long enough to locate the flap bendingline back of the line between the two holes as I have indicated. Thisprovides in the best manner I know for making the' flap actionindividual with respect to the hole. Even though binding wire I is madeof small gauge wire, it has some thickness, so that as one coil crowdsthrough one cut there is a necessary bending in the flap area to admitthe wire to the hole. After it gets in the hole the fit is loose andwhen the next wire is crowded through its cut it may not be lined up todo sov as well as the previous coil did. But with the flaps cut as at 9the flap halves adjacent the holes I work around the thickness of thewire without any objectionable strain that might make successive actionsbetween wire and binding margin harder tovaccomplish. The fact is thatthe desired action with my preferred form is accomplished in aremarkably easy fashion.

I have described the binder and the action with one illler sheet 4. Imake up my improved loose leaf book with a pack of filler sheetsfastened and unfastenedin the same way. This gives me a whole book withall the advantages of the ordinary coiled wire binder over the customaryring type binder such as are generally recognized by users.' Heretofore,the ring binder book has had the advantage in the easy removability andinsertion of individual sheets which the coiled binder lacked. Myimproved coiled wire binder now has the same loose leaf bookadvantageand with a remarkably effective structure for attaining the advantage ofboth types of books.

So far as I know, manufacturers have not heretofore sold for general usethe coiled wire' binder without the filler sheets. The customary type ofbinder did not permit this practice, but with my improvements this. cannow be done. The casual user can buy his binder and select his desiredtype of illlcr sheets for insertion all with the same convenience as inring binder casual customers practice. Y

The ordinary user of loose leaf books 'frequently wantsto bind upspecial sheets of his own which are not practical to supply through astationery store. An example is the desire to bind up patent copies inloose leaf form. I have extended my present invention to a. structure tofill this need. The modification is shown in Fig. 4. In addition tomaking filler sheets at the factory tobind in my improved way, I plan tomake filler strips or stubs I I as shown. 'Ihe celluloid 6 i's fastenedas a reenforcement to a slightly wider paper strip I2 in the way alreadydescribed. The paper extends sidewise of the celluloid enough to providea pasting strip. This pasting strip extension is preferably provided onits face with a layer of adhesive gum indicatedA at I3. A patent copyycan be separated by pulling out the binding staples. Each sheet can bepasted on the special stub II along the binding margin and then the stubput in my binder. A book can be made up in this way by anyone,containing a desired set of patent copies with the binding structure ofFig. 5, and itis a most convenient way to do it, superior to anyavailable and customary loose leaf form forl the purpose. of which I amaware. The value in the use is that there is a better binding structurewith the coiled wire type, since the sheets of va bookmaybe turned overso easily that the book canibe opened back to back. With my sheetremovability feature, the drawing of a patent copy can be laid alongsideof its description by the individual handling of the sheets, no matterhow they were originally bound in the book. Patent copies arenotoriously inconvenient to handle and bindin loose leaf form in partbecause-to examine the drawing while reading the description extendingover opposite sides of a single page requires so much turning.Furthermore, the paper is not of a grade that works well with punchedholes or ring binders when the copy sheets are loosened and separatedfrom their original staple binding means. My modification isparticularly adapted for good utility under such adverse conditions inthe paper sheets to be bound.

Having disclosed my invention, I claim:

l. A loose leaf structure fonned of sheet mamargin ing or. distortionfrom ,contact with the wire in terial including a stiff, sprlngy bindingprovided with a row of holes for the reception of the turns of ahelically wound binding wire,

` hole entering cuts extending from each hole to and through the bindingedge of said binding margin, andcuts positioned intermediate said holesand extending inwardly from said binding edge a distance sufficient toenable the material between the intermediate cuts and the hole enteringcuts to be temporarily flexed from the plane of the sheet, to permit theturns of the.

binding wire to enter and leave the holes by way of the hole enteringcuts, without impairment to the resistance of the material adjacent theholes to tearing or distortion from contact with the wire inthe normaluse of the structure.

2.-A loose leaf structure formed of sheet material including a stiff,springy binding margin provided with a row of holes for the reception ofthe turns of a helically wound binding wire, hole entering cutsextending from each hole to and through the binding edge of said bindingmargin,

. and cuts positioned intermediate said holes and extending inwardlyfrom said binding edge to a bending line beyond the holes formingindividual tabs foreach hole thereby enabling each tab to be temporarilyswung voutoi the plane of the sheet and enabling thematerial between theintermediate cuts and the hole entering cuts to be temporarily twistedout of the plane of theA tabs, to permit the turns of the binding wireto enter and leave the holes by way of the hole t entering cuts, withoutimpairment to the resistance of the material adjacent the'holes totearthe normal use of the structure.

3. A book with exchangeable leaves comprising in combination loosesheets, each sheet having perforations near its binding edge, slits ex-5 tending from each perforation to said edge and. affording entrance tothe perforations from said edge, tab forming slits between adjacentperforations, and a helically wound wire the distance between the turnsof which corresponds to the 10 distance between said perforations, saidwire having one turn extending through each of said perforations, saidwire being adapted to have the respective turns thereof inserted andremoved from the perforations by Way of said rst named l5 slits uponflexing of the tabs from the plane of they sheet and the flexing of theportions of the tabs adjacent the rst named slits out of the plane ofthe tabs. go

4. I'he combination of a vstrip of exible springy thin material and astrip of paper adhesively fastened thereto and extending beyond one sideedge thereof, adhesive gum on the extended surface of said paper, a rowof spaced holes along the opposite edge of the springy ma- 25 terial forthe reception of the turns of a helically Wound binding wire, cutsintermediate the holes to arrange each hole in an independent tab andcuts affording sidewise, entrance to said holes through which the turnsof said wire may len- 30 ter and leave the holes by exing-of the tabsfrom the plane of the strip and the flexing of the portion of the tabsadjacent the entrance cuts from the plane of the'tabs.

- FRANK STANLEY SCHADE. 35

